In electrical power distribution, busbars are often used for bonding electrical circuits and devices. Conventionally, busbars are configured to support excessively large currents that may occur during a short circuit or lightning strike and can be designed to dissipate heat generated by such currents by providing a high surface area to cross-sectional area ratio. When a number of active wires (or other conductors) need to be bonded, each of the active wires can be coupled to a busbar, which can in turn be bonded. By having one single ground conductor connected to the busbar, the plurality of active wires coupled to the busbar can be simultaneously grounded, thereby reducing the number of wires (or other conductors) needed to extend to the ground source.
In some contexts, the use of busbars may be highly important. For example, in the telecommunication industry, telecommunication towers often support numerous pieces of equipment that require grounding. For example, a 4 G tower may support antennas, transmitters, receivers, digital signal processors, control electronics, GPS receivers, and electrical power sources, all of which may require grounding. Because these towers can be several hundred feet tall, bonding each of these pieces of equipment separately would be technically impractical, requiring substantial lengths of conductors, as well as financially unfavorable. In contrast, relatively low cost and high connectivity can make busbars an attractive alternative.